Bahia de Caraquez: Roosters and Ice Cream

            ¡Hola! So after visiting the Equator in Quito and driving for 7 hours through windy, hillside roads, then through dirt roads through villages (every one stared at us), we arrived in Bahia de Caraquéz, on the coast. It is more humid and definitely warmer. I just didn't know it would be constantly cloudy. How ironic! I thought the sun would be deadly but it's only about 80 degrees. I'm not sad that it's cloudy. I think that hearing, reading and speaking spanish make up for the lack of sun. Oh, and the food is different on the coast. We have done a lot of fun stuff but I'm ready to work. I already did the fun thing in France so I'm ready to work.  This town is so small that it doesn't have a movie theatre so I'll have to watch the hangover 2 when I get back. There's a nice beach so this morning I went running by myself to take a breather and absorb where I was. I'm glad I am in a house surrounded by people. They are from the university of texas. I like them. They are chill.I can relate to them somehow because they remind me of home. I don't know how, but I act and speak differently around them. It's nice to be able to spend my summer w/ people because I've usually spent them alone.

Today I had spanish class w/ 2 other girls and I am surprised at how much I suck at writing it. I failed at accents. Apparently there was a spanish word for accent and I didn't even know it. I'm good at conversation, but I'm looking forward to improving my writing so I can own a Wellesey spanish class. Just now, Jorge corrected me on the title of my blog. I had spelled "gringuita" "gringita". See? I need to improve. Today we met the kids who are taking the work shop but haven't started filming. They are more enthusiastic than I thought they would be, and I had to interview a young guy in order to analyze their way of speaking. They speak really quickly and drop some letters from their words. He seemed pretty nervous and only responded with a few words. Maybe I just looked gross in my shorts and sports headband from running in the morning. I didn't shower because our water shuts down and we dont get it til 5 pm. The food is great though, and we have Doña Mariana cook it every day for us. Home made goodness!! I love the food here, but it could be spicier. I'm just happy they dont eat as much bread as in France. I really don't miss france as much as I thought I would...I'm just happy to be in a place that reminds me of Mexico and my mom (hearing people speak spanish). I don't know if I want to go to machu pichu any more. I kind of want to go home but I know I'll be wanting to travel more.

I live with 6 other girls in an 'apartment' above an ice cream shop. People LOVE ice cream here! We have to have the little old lady open the front door, then we only have one key to get in and you have to reach inside the house to lock it up. It feels like we are camping in the apartment because there is no running water until 5 pm, and we sleep on super hard beds. Maddie said she felt like she was sleeping on a pool table. I woke up at 2 am because so many bugs were biting me, so I put on spray. Then I woke up at 5 am to the sound of a ROOSTER crowing right next door. The girls and I want to make rooster soup now. Also, there are so many dogs here! When I went running, there was one just chilling on the side walk next to the beach. Dogs just walk up to you. There's this dog next to our apartment that sticks its head out of a barred window so it looks like its perpetually stuck there.  People get around by either taking taxis or tricicles that look like rickshaws. I haven't found the fruit market, but they have little stands every where selling things.

        In Quito they eat lots of corn, but here on the coast they eat plantains. For breakfast, we had grilled plantain with a peanuty powder and yummy fresh cheese. For lunch, we had eggy soup with a plantain dumpling then lentils, rice, beef, and a very salty cucumber salad. After lunch we went to the radio station to interview the staff of the project I'm working with. Apparently the radio is a large form of communication here. Once, someone lost a backpack and advertised it on the radio. It's like a lost and found. Once there, they asked if it would be ok to interview me. The host spoke super fast and I was about to ask him to speak slower, but somehow I understood him by listening to key words and putting them together. I spoke for about 5 minutes, saying where I was from and he asked me what I wanted the youth in the area to know. I gave this cheesy but true response about how important it is for them to stay in school. I used myself as an example, saying that my university has gotten me tons of places that I never thought I would have been, such as France last semester. He asked me what I wanted to take away from Bahia, and of course I said: the food. I joked about how much they love corn in Quito ;] I'm looking forward to getting to know the students more tomorrow.